Devils Covet Four-Star Oklahoma Point Guard

DevilsDigest.com

03/12/2007

Rotnei Clarke, the ninth-best point guard in the 2008 class, has been garnering a lot of recruiting attention thus far. The Sun Devils have been of those schools pursuing him, and Clarke has enjoyed being recruited by the maroon and gold. Devils Digest caught up with the point guard to get the latest on his recruitment with ASU.

"I have a lot of schools that are recruiting me," said the 5-10 155 Rotnei Clarke," but Arizona State is definitely one of the schools that are recruiting me the hardest. Coach Miller and Coach Sendek came down this weekend to watch me at the state tournament, and have been in contact with me a lot…I don't know a lot abut the program, but I know that Coach Sendek coaches the way I like to play" Oklahoma, Arkansas, Marquette and Washington State are the schools Clarke mentioned as being his most persistent suitors along with the Sun Devils.

Coaching staff is one aspect that will be a strong factor in Clarke's decision on where to spend his college career. "The character of the players I'll play with, style of play are other stuff I will be looking at," he noted. "Location really doesn't matter. I can go anywhere for school and it won't bother me."

Last Friday Clarke and Verdigris High School lost in the Oklahoma State semifinals to the eventual champion. That loss capped an excellent season for the point guard who reportedly averaged 37 points (including six made three-pointers a game), nine rebounds and six assists. "I really don't have a weak spot on offense, but I really need to improve on defense," he commented. "I'm quick now, but I'd like to get quicker. I can see the floor very well and shoot the ball when I need to." He added that the player he admires the most happens to be in ASU's backyard – the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash.

Clarke is the starting point guard on the AAU club Team Texas, who will participate in the AAU tournament circuit starting in April. At the end of that circuit, he might just drop into Tempe for a visit. "I'm probably gonna check out Arizona State after my (AAU) tournament in Las Vegas." Clarke stated. "I'm gonna be in the area anyway, so hopefully I can stop by…I'm not leaning towards any particular school. I just want to go through the recruiting process and make a decision probably sometime in September. I'm not in a rush to make a choice"